Journal
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON AEROSPACE AND ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS
Volume 58, Issue 5, Pages 4261-4278Publisher
IEEE-INST ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS INC
DOI: 10.1109/TAES.2022.3162770
Keywords
Clocks; Synchronization; Phase measurement; Receivers; Long Term Evolution; Multiaccess communication; Global navigation satellite system; 5G; code-division multiple access (CDMA); carrier phase; cellular signals; long-term evolution (LTE); navigation; signals of opportunity (SOP); unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV)
Funding
- Office of Naval Research (ONR) [N00014-16-1-2305, N00014-19-1-2511]
- U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) [69A3552047138]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
A framework is developed to achieve submeter-level horizontal navigation for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in multipath-free environments using cellular carrier phase measurements. Experimental data shows that the stability of cellular base transceiver station (BTS) clocks approaches that of atomic standards, and the clock deviations can be modeled as a stable autoregressive moving average model. The framework allows UAVs to achieve meter- to submeter-accurate navigation based on carrier phase measurements.
A framework that could achieve submeter-level unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) horizontal navigation in multipath-free environments with cellular carrier phase measurements is developed. This framework exploits the loose synchronization between cellular base transceiver station (BTS) clocks. It is shown through extensive experimental data that the beat frequency stability of cellular BTSs approaches that of atomic standards and that the clock deviations can be realized as a stable autoregressive moving average model. This BTS clock model is referred to as loose network synchronization. A rule-of-thumb is established for clustering the clock deviations to minimize the position estimation error, while significantly reducing the computational complexity. The presented models allow the UAV to achieve sustained carrier phase-based meter- to submeter-accurate navigation. To demonstrate the efficacy of the developed framework, this article presents three UAV flight experiments in Southern California, USA, utilizing signals from different cellular providers transmitting at different frequencies. The three experiments took place in open, semiurban environments with nearly multipath-free, line-of-sight (LOS) conditions, in which the UAV traveled 1.72, 3.07, and 0.61 km, achieving a horizontal position root mean squared error of 36.61, 88.58, and 89.33 cm, respectively, with respect to the UAV's on-board navigation system.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available